Pines

Caution: Before visiting the pine plantation make sure that
you can identify poison ivy. It is common
in both mowed and unmowed areas of the BFEC.

The white pine (Pinus strobus) is a rapid-growing conifer used in reforestation, landscaping and christmas
tree farming. Trees grow by annually multiplying basic units of branches - the maximum size is limited only by
the ability of a tree to survive through time. Buds at the tips
of branches break dormancy in the spring and grow outward, lengthening the branch. The central bud in the cluster
extends the branch and the lateral buds form a new whorl of branches.

Trees increase height by the growth of a single main trunk or leader. The central bud of the leader tends to
break dormancy before the lateral buds and becomes the dominant stem. The lateral buds form a whorl of branches
around the leader. Generally, the distance between each whorl represents one
year's growth.

Due to apical dominance, pines tend to grow in a conical
shape with a single main trunk from which lateral branches arise. If a leader is damaged or lost, the tree
may lose its conical growth form.

A careful examination of the trees should reveal that there was considerable variation in the rate at which
individual trees grew since 1990. Your job is to consider biological and environmental factors that may explain
this variation.

Please return to the Moodle page to complete the Quiz questions for Tutorial 2.